Tag Archives: Wacom

As a designer who appreciates how products are packaged, my first impression of the Mobile Studio Pro when it arrived was very positive. I loved the minimalism of the design and how everything was carefully considered and placed within the box. It felt special and aimed at a creative who had earned it.

While I have been using Wacom tablet products professionally for over 20 years, I had never previously used a Wacom PC tablet. I didn’t have any expectations or preconceived ideas of what this box of tricks was capable of. It was great to stumble across things by accident, and it felt very intuitive.

The Mobile Studio Pro is a self-contained computer tablet device. You don’t need a laptop or a desktop to use it, as everything is within one handy box. You can, however, plug the device into a separate monitor should you need the additional screen. While I haven’t done this yet myself, I would imagine a second monitor would be handy when you need to spread out your application interface.

The tablet arrives with Windows 10 pre-installed. It’s essentially a PC computer rather than a mobile tablet device. You simply install your software as you would on your laptop or desktop workstation, and off you go. It’s as simple as that. I installed my Adobe Creative Cloud, with a special interest in Photoshop, as it was perfect for painting and drawing, and even sketching initial ideas. I also installed Allegorithmic’s Substance Painter, a brilliant painting package I use for my texture mapping. I also have my Studio version of Maxon Cinema 4D installed, which I predominately use for exporting my geometry that is ready for texture mapping in Substance Painter.

Digging In
Immediately, I liked the idea of being able to see where my pen was pointing at the screen before the pen had literally touched the screen itself. The little circular indicator was very simple and very useful, as it allowed me to target my pen exactly where it was going. Simple things count. The pen is very comfortable to hold, slightly weightier but not heavier than other tablet pens. It has a sturdy rubber grip and attachment should I want to let the pen hang from the tablet itself.

The overall design is minimal with a set of function keys and a wheel to one side. All can be easily changed to suit your needs. The screen is semi matte and perfectly smooth, although I personally prefer a glossy screen as the blacks look more crushed, but I appreciate that is also a personal preference. The screen is super-smooth and easy to glide without the pen slipping as it could on a glossed shiny surface. I did notice some minor light bleeding at the bottom edge in three places, but this didn’t impact my actual workflow and was only slightly noticeable on start-up rather than actually interfering with my workflow.

The 16-inch model is perfect for working between 3D and 2D texturing, although again a personal choice. The full-size version comes with a Quadra Nvidia Quadro M1000M 4GB GDDRS card, which is super-punchy — working with high-resolution imagery and geometry with no lag. Texturing in 4K+ is demanding, so this high-spec box of tricks is essential. The pixel resolution is highly respectable at 3,840×2,160 and along with an i7-6567U processor and 16GB RAM you have a very powerful tablet that perhaps provides more power than you may need but it is there to be taken advantage of when you do need it. The Pro Pen 2 is very accurate with no lag and comfortable, switching between using the pen and touch function feels very natural.

One of the drawbacks for me is the weight of the top-spec model — my MacBook Pro weighs 4.46 pounds and the Mobile Studio Pro weights 4.85 pounds. As the name suggests, it’s a “mobile studio.” For me it felt only mobile from room to room, and is not a device I could carry around with me for too long. The battery drains very quickly (four hours battery time), but given the amount of hardware inside this punchy unit, it is to be expected. The battery brick is very large, so if you are carrying the Mobile Studio out and about, you have to consider this and all the peripherals. While USB-C is still new compared to the USB design, I would have preferred to see perhaps two USB-C and one USB ports, but I guess this is a forward-thinking product and an adapter will do the trick, so this can be forgiven.

I found it very useful using an inexpensive wireless Logitech keyboard with a trackpad as constantly going back and forth between the tablet keyboard and the application was a little cumbersome as it was breaking up my workflow. What I would like to see is a simple button in the top corner that you click once that brings the keyboard up and press again and it’s gone, rather than having to go into bottom menus.

Real-World Work
When I took on the task of reviewing the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro, I thought it would be best suited on a project that benefitted from heavy use of texture mapping and texture painting. I decided to start working on a “concept film” where I would use the tablet to texture all the 3D assets. As this is a work in progress project, I have attached with my review an asset I textured using the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro and plan to finish the film this year, so please come back to see the results.

I am often inspired by sounds and music. Concepts have always been my main focus and I was inspired by a piece of cinematic music, which I thought would work incredibly well. It’s a short sequence about emotion. I want to take the viewer through a series of emotions and leave them thinking and stay with them. At the moment I am inspired by concept art and surrealism and like how chain reactions take you to places. Some scenes may be logical, others not, but will have a thread that links them all together. The opening of the track has a piano piece and the keys travel downwards. To express this I built a spiral staircase travelling in a downward motion taking the viewer into another world.

Pricing
For the MobileStudio Pro 13, prices vary with storage capacity: $1,500 for a 64GB SSD, $1,800 for 128GB, $2,000 for 256GB and $2,500 for 512GB.

As for the MobileStudio Pro 16, the less expensive $2,400 model incorporates an Nvidia Quadro M600M processor with 2GB of video RAM and a 256GB SSD, while the $3,000 model has an Nvidia Quadro M1000M with 4GB of video RAM and a 512GB SSD.

Summing Up
Would I recommend the Mobile Studio Pro? Absolutely. It’s powerful and it’s a computer, so I am able to install and use my software with ease. It works very well within my wider workflow, which is how I prefer to work. I think its success also comes down to the fact that this is a computer tablet device and not just a tablet that relies only on apps.

Sophia Kyriacou is an award-winning motion designer and 3D artist with over 20 years working in the broadcast industry. She is also a full voting member at BAFTA and has presented her various projects on the international stage at IBC for Maxon. She splits her time between freelancing and the BBC in London. Follow her on Twitter (@SophiaKyriacou) and Instagram (@sophiakyriacou).

Do you miss the days of just pulling out your sketchpad and letting your creative energy flow? Well, Wacom has a new solution for you that bridges old-school paper-and-ink drawings with portable digital technology.

Wacom is at CES showing its new Intuos Pro and Intuos Pro Paper Edition pen and touch tablets. While the two products have similar functionality, the Intuos Pro Paper Edition gives artists the ability to incorporate paper into their workflow — and when not used with paper, this version will also function as a regular Intuos Pro.

The tablet allows ink-on-paper drawings to be captured and stored digitally on the Intuos Pro Paper Edition so they can be refined later on the tablet with any compatible layered raster or vector software application. This means no more scanning.

“The Paper Edition lets artists secure a paper on the device and sketch, draw or write with an real ink, analog pen, while it captures the information digitally because it is seated on our Electro-Magnetic Resonance board and stored for later use,” explains Wacom’s Doug Little.

Little also emphasizes that while the Paper Edition does function as a Intuos Pro when paper isn’t involved, the newest Intuos Pro is “thinner and lighter and features our new Pro Pen 2 (4x the pressure-sensitivity of our previous pen). It also features the same ExpressKeys for creating shortcuts and modifiers.”

The new Intuos Pro is less than half an inch thick but offers the same sized active area in a smaller overall footprint. It comes equipped with anodized aluminum backing, a smaller pen stand with 10 nibs and a new pen case. Both sizes of the Intuos Pro, Medium and Large, use a TouchRing, Multi-Touch and eight ExpressKeys for the creation of customized shortcuts to speed up the creative workflow.

The Paper Edition adds a Paper Clip (to attach the artists favorite drawing paper), pressure-sensitive Finetip gel ink pen and the Wacom Inkspace App to convert drawings for use with leading creative software applications. The Inkspace App environment also allows users to easily store and share their artwork.

The new Wacom Pro Pen 2 comes with both the Intuos Pro and Intuos Pro Paper Edition. This new pen features 4X the pressure sensitivity than the former Pro Pen, delivering 8,192 levels of pressure to support a natural and intuitive creative process.

The recently released Wacom Finetip Pen, included with the Intuos Pro Paper Edition, provides smooth-gel ink. Designed for those who begin their creative process on paper, the Finetip lets users visually depict ideas that are automatically digitized. Users can also select a Ballpoint Pen as an optional purchase.

Available in medium and large models, Intuos Pro is Bluetooth-enabled and compatible with Macs and PCs. The Intuos Pro Medium ($349.95 USD) and Large ($499.95 USD) will be available this month.

Intuos Pro Paper Edition will contain added features as a bundled package to enable paper-to-digital creation. The Intuos Pro Paper Edition Medium ($399.95) and Large ($549.95) will be available this month as well.

Wacom has introduced a new line of Wacom Cintiq Pro creative pen displays: the Cintiq Pro 13 and Cintiq Pro 16. The Wacom Cintiq Pro features a thin and portable form factor, making them suitable for working on the road or remotely.

Cintiq Pro’s new Pro Pen 2, according to Wacom, offers four times greater accuracy and pressure sensitivity than the previous Pro Pen. The improved Pro Pen 2 creates an intuitive experience with virtually lag-free tracking on a glass surface that produces the right amount of friction, and is coated to reduce reflection.

Additionally, the new optical bonding process reduces parallax, providing a pen-on-screen performance that feels natural and has the feedback of a traditional pen or brush. Both Cintiq Pro models also feature multi-touch for easy and fast navigation, as well as the ability to pinch, zoom and rotate illustrations, photos or models within supporting 2D or 3D creative software apps.

Both high-resolution Cintiq Pro models come with an optimized edge-to-edge etched glass workspace. The Cintiq Pro also builds on its predecessor, the Cintiq 13HD touch, offering the ExpressKey Remote as an optional accessory so users can customize their most commonly used shortcuts and modifiers when working with their most-used software applications. In addition, ergonomic features, such as ErgoFlex, fully integrated pop out legs and an optional three-position desk stand (available in February), let users focus on their work instead of constantly adjusting for comfort.

Not long ago, I was asked if I wanted to check out Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve 12.5 on a Microsoft Surface Pro 4. I was dubious, and wondered, “Do they really think I can edit, color correct, and deliver footage on a tablet?”

I was incredulous. I really thought this seemed like a pipe dream for Microsoft and Blackmagic. Everyone who works in post knows that you need a pretty monstrous workstation to play, let alone edit, media. Especially media with resolutions over 1920×1080 and 10-bit color! Well, let’s see how all of that played out.

Thankfully, I received the higher-end version of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 tablet. Under the hood it was packing a dual-core 2.2 GHz Intel i7, 6650U CPU, 8GB RAM, NVMe Samsung MZFLV256 (256GB SSD) and an Intel Iris graphics 540 GPU. The display sports a beautiful 3:2 aspect ratio at 2736×1824 resolution; not quite the UHD 16:9/1.78:1 or true 4
K 1.9:1 aspect ratio that would be comfortable when working in video, but it’s not bad. Keep in mind that when working with high-resolution displays like an Apple Retina 5K or this Surface Pro 4, some apps will be hard to read even with the scaling bumped up.

Resolve looks great, but the words and icons might be a bit smaller than what you are used to seeing. The Surface Pro 4 weighs an incredibly light 1.73 pounds, measures 11.5×7.93x.33 inches and has the best stand I’ve ever used on a tablet. This is a big pet peeve of mine – terrible tablet stands — but the Surface sports a great one. I am on the go a lot, so I need a sturdy stand that, preferably, is attached. The Surface has the stand every other tablet manufacturer should copy.

I use Wacom products, so I am used to working with a great stylus, therefore, I didn’t have high expectations for the pen included with the Surface Pro. Boy, I was wrong! I was I happily surprised at how nice it was. While it doesn’t have the 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity present in the Wacom products that you might be used to, it does have 1,024, with great palm rejection. The weight of the pen was great — like really great — and it mounts on the side of the Surface by a strong magnet.

Aside from the mouse and stylus, the Surface Pro 4 has a 10-point touchscreen, but I didn’t use it very much. I found myself defaulting to the stylus when I wanted to interact directly on the screen, like in Photoshop or adjusting curves inside Resolve. Last, but not least, is the tremendous battery life. I was constantly running Resolve as well as playing music from Spotify and Pandora and the battery would last me most of the day. Once I got into heavy grading where I pumped up the brightness, the battery life went to lasting under two to four hours, which I think is still great.

Right off the bat — and as you’ve probably already surmised — I’m going to tell you that the Surface 4 Pro is not going to stand up to a powerhouse like the HP z840 with 64GB of RAM and an Nvidia Quadro M6000. But, what I found the Surface Pro 4 excelling at was proxy-based workflows and simple color matching.

You won’t be able to play 4K clips that cleanly, but the Surface 4 Pro and Resolve will allow you to color correct, grade, add a few nodes for things, such as a vignette or qualifier, and even export your grade. But if I were you and wanted to use the Surface Pro appropriately, a nice simple color balance will run great.

Essentially. the Surface Pro is a great way to travel and grade your footage thanks to Intel’s pretty amazing Iris graphics technology. You should really check out Intel’s backstory on how one of their engineers went to NAB 2015 and talked with the Blackmagic crew and figured out what he needed to do to get Intel-based GPUs to work with Resolve. Check this out. Regardless of whether or not there is hyperbole in that video, it is very true that almost anybody can run Resolve, whether you are on a Surface or an Intel-powered desktop.

Oh, don’t forget that for many people, the free version of Resolve will be all they need. Resolve is an amazing nonlinear editor and professional-level color correction software available at anyone’s fingertips for free. This is a fact that cannot be understated.

Testing
To test the Surface 4 Pro, I found some Red 5K footage that I scaled down to 1920×1080 in a 1920×1080 23.976 project, did a simple edit, colored and exported a final QuickTime. When I had the debayer set all the way to full resolution, my Surface started to crawl (crawl would be the polite term — in fact, it was more like melt. This is why I suggest the proxy workflow. However, when I played back at ¼, more so at ⅛, I was actually able to work. I was running around 10 to 12 frames per second. While I know 12fps isn’t the best playback for a 23.976 5K clip at 1920×1080 resolution, it let me do my job while on the go. I like to call it the “Starbuck’s Test.” If I need more than that I definitely should be at home using a HP z840, or DIY custom-built 4K workhorse, which I am looking to build.

If you really want to get the Surface to sing in Resolve 12.5, you should stick to 1920×1080 resolution footage or smaller. With a couple of serial nodes I was able to consistently get 15fps playback. Yeah, I know this isn’t ideal, but if I’m on the run and can’t use a workstation with dual Nvidia Titans or GTX1080 GPUs, 64GB DDR5 RAM, running footage off a Thunderbolt 3 external SSD RAID (a set-up that would cost north of $5K), the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is a great alternate solution.

Something that is tough to deal with on the Surface is the small text and icon size in Windows 10. While there might be a way to fix it using registry key hacks, I don’t want to do that. I want to set it and forget it. For all I know, there is a way to make the text the right size, but I couldn’t find it easily.

There has to be a way this can be fixed, right? If you know of a true fix let me know on Twitter @allbetzroff. I would really love to know. I tried bumping up the icon/text zoom within Resolve and messing around with the zoom in the Window’s Control Panel, with no luck.

Another issue with using a tablet to color correct and grade is the lack of elegance and fluidity that professional color correction panels allow. If you do color at any sort of professional level you should probably have at the very least something like the Tangent Ripple or Element panels. Using a touch screen, mouse and/or stylus to edit and color correct gets old fast on a tablet.

Using the Tangent Ripple, which is surprisingly portable, I felt the elegance I know and love when using Resolve with a panel. (I will be doing a Tangent Ripple review later for some more in-depth analysis). I did love the ability to use the stylus to get in and fine-tune Power Windows and curves in Resolve, but you will definitely need some extra equipment if you find yourself doing more than a couple adjustments — much like any computer, and not just the Surface.

Summing Up
In the end, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 (my version goes for around $1,600) is an exceptional tablet. I love it. In addition to running Resolve 12.5. I also installed the Adobe Suite of tools and did some editing in Premiere, effects in After Effects, transcoding in Media Encoder and even round-tripped my sequence between Resolve and Premiere.

The Surface Pro 4 is a great “away-from-home” computer to run very high-end apps like Resolve 12.5, Premiere Pro CC, and even apps like After Effects with hard core plug-ins like Imagineer System’s Mocha Pro 5.

While the touchscreen and stylus are great for occasional use, you should plan on investing in something like the Tangent Ripple color panel if you will be coloring a ton in Resolve or any other app — it’s even priced well at $350.

From the amazing battery life to the surprisingly snappy response of the Intel Iris 540 GPU inside of pro video editing and color correcting apps like Resolve, the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is the Windows tablet you need in your mobile multimedia creator life.

Brady Betzel is an online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on Life Below Zero and Cutthroat Kitchen. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Earlier this year, Brady was nominated for an Emmy for his work on Disney’s Unforgettable Christmas Celebration.

Wacom has introduced Intuos 3D, a complete a 3D solution that combines Wacom’s Intuos pen tablet with Pixologic’s ZBrushCore software for creating and sculpting print-ready digital designs and characters on a Mac or PC.

The Intuos 3D’s pen works seamlessly with Pixologic’s powerful ZBrushCore software, built from the same ZBrush foundation that top pro film and game studios have been using for their 3D creations for years. The battery-free, cordless and pressure-sensitive Intuos pen combines with ZBrushCore to emulate the same feel and feedback one gets when working with traditional brushes, markers or ceramic tools.

Users seeking on-demand 3D prints can send their completed models to the online service Shapeways for printing.

Intuos 3D ($199.95 USD) includes the Intuos 3D tablet, pen and downloadable Pixologic ZBrushCore software, as well as special offers from Shapeways and Sketchfab. Intuos 3D will be distributed globally to retailers and online resellers, including Amazon and the Wacom eStore, and available for sale in late October.

If you’ve ever used a Wacom Intuos or Cintiq tablet, then you know how efficient they can make your workflow, regardless of your job title. I’m a video editor, and after using a Wacom Intuos 5 I immediately noticed less wrist pain when compared to using a mouse.

Wacom makes very high-quality products that do not disappoint. The Wacom Cintiq Companion 2 is a tablet with the power of a laptop, coupled with the precision of the company’s famous line of pen tablets. Whether you’re an illustrator, a visual effects artist or even an editor, you should check out this tablet.

Under the Hood
While there are multiple configurations of the Wacom Cintiq Companion 2, I will be reviewing only the version I received to test. It’s loaded with the Intel i7 dual core (four thread) 3.1GHz processor, 8GB of DDR3 memory, 256GB SSD Toshiba hard drive and Intel Iris Graphics 5100 graphics card. It comes pre-loaded with Windows 8.1 Pro (if you purchase one with an i3/i5 processor it comes Windows 8.1 standard). This configuration retails for $1,999.95.

Other configurations run from $1,299.95 all the way up to $2,499.95. In addition, the Companion 2 also comes with a carrying case, stand, the Pro Pen (my favorite accessory), an AC adapter and the Cintiq Connect cable. There is a set of six express keys that I don’t often use — except when doing some Photoshop work — but they are programmable and they are there. Around the outside you get three USB 3.0 ports, a display port,a microSD card slot and a headphone port.

I really liked Wacom’s Cintiq Companion. I thought it was great, but there were a few things I felt could be improved: the stand; the power supply, which was cumbersome and had many problems (Google it); and the ability to use it just like a normal Cintiq when connected to another computer

With the Companion 2, Wacom has listened to what its customers wanted. They addressed the bad power supply connection, although the power connection still hangs off the side. Wacom also made a great improvement — allowing the Companion to be used in conjunction with the Cintiq Connect Cable and perform the same functions as its famous cousin the Cintiq. To use this function, however, you must download the drivers to the computer you want to use the Companion with, as well as have a computer with HDMI out and USB ports.

Unfortunately one of my biggest problems with the Companion is the stand and that has not changed. While it’s not a deal breaker, I find it cumbersome and, in my opinion, should have been built-in, much like the Microsoft Surface.

Testing it Out
Once I got the stand attached, the computer turned on fast, and within five seconds I was up and ready to run. If you haven’t used Windows before, don’t worry. It comes loaded with Windows 8.1 Pro and recently has been suggesting that I upgrade to Windows 10. If you are thinking about upgrading to Windows 10, I would be careful because currently many pro apps are not yet certified.

I immediately downloaded the Adobe CC Suite, specifically After Effects and Premiere. When using this tablet, I wanted to concentrate on its video capabilities as opposed to its well-known illustration abilities. As most reviews and articles will tell you, the Companion 2 has 2,048 levels of sensitivity, as well as tilt and multi-touch offerings.

Not long after launching After Effects and Premiere I discovered that I really like to use touch over the Pro Pen for the most part, which is a true testament to Adobe and the improvements they have made to their apps for touch. The exception came when I was using bezier curves, masks or adjusting color curves. I could not get the same level of accuracy as I do with the pen.

Nonetheless, using the CIntiq Companion 2 as a video editor and effects machine proved to be a great experience — including the fact that I was able to use Video CoPilot’s Element 3D without a problem. It should also be noted that there will be some hiccups when editing multiple video layers; you will need way more memory and a dedicated graphics card. This brings up another point: technically the Cintiq Companion 2 cannot be upgraded, so if you order the 8GB memory version, that’s it. My advice would be to spend a little more money and max it out as much as you can, your renders will thank you.

I tested the machine with an XDCAM 50 MOV file. The XDCAM codec is a notoriously processor-intensive codec that gives even the largest Mac Pro or HP z840 a run for their compression money. The Companion stayed in the race nicely. I compressed the nine-minute, 11.2GB XDCAM MOV using Adobe Media Encoder, compressing to the YouTube 1080p preset and harnessing the OpenCL acceleration in 12 minutes and 52 seconds — with OpenCL turned off, and using only the software acceleration, it took 11 min 37 seconds. It definitely kept up with rough realtime encoding, but with 16GB of DDR3 we may have seen a slightly faster time.

Summing Up
If you have the money and/or the need for Wacom’s high precision and craftsmanship, the Cintiq Companion 2 is the mobile Cintiq for you. In addition to the precision, the Companion 2 boasts a QHD screen with a resolution of 2560×1440 (an aspect ratio of 1.778 or 16:9) and a color gamut of 72 percent NTSC. While this isn’t the fastest tablet on the market, you will not find one with the same precision and quality that Wacom has become famous for.

I leave you with these highlights: the Companion 2 offers 2,048 levels of sensitivity with the Pro Pen; the Cintiq Connect Cable allows you to use the Companion like a standard Cintiq; and it offers QHD 2650×1440 screen resolution.

Wacom’s new Cintiq 13HD Touch is targeted at designers, artists and image editors interested in a workflow that emulates drawing or painting on paper or canvas. The Cintiq 13HD Touch offers a slim design and works with both Macs and PCs. Its adjustable stand is optimized for use in four settings — flat, 22 degrees, 35 degrees and 50 degrees.

The Wacom Cintiq 13HD Touch’s screen offers a wide-format HD LED display with a 178-degree viewing angle, 1920×1080 resolution and 16.7 million colors. The Pro Pen offers 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition. Multi-touch integration allows the user to navigate the desktop or rotate and zoom in and out of an image or illustration.

To further improve workflow and productivity, frequently used shortcut commands are available through the Cintiq 13HD Touch’s four customizable and application-specific ExpressKeys and Rocker Ring.

The new Cintiq 13HD Touch is priced at $999.95 and is scheduled is available now.

During CES today, Wacom launched two versions of the Cintiq 27QHD featuring updated pen-on-screen performance and a 27-inch glasswork display — a pen-only version and a pen and multi-touch version. The Cintiq 27 QHD’s new ExpressKey Remote, which can be placed anywhere on the screen or desk, gives users more flexibility as to how, when and where customizable keyboard shortcuts and modifiers are implemented. Additionally, the Cintiq 27QHD offers a variety of stand options.

Wacom also introduced the Cintiq Companion 2, a touchscreen tablet for professional creators of digital content. More on that shortly.

According to Wacom, pros with color critical workflows will benefit from the Cintiq 27QHD’s life-like color quality which displays 1.07 billion colors and 97 percent of Adobe’s color gamut. This allows artists certainty that the colors match the printing or other output phases of a project. This is thanks to precision color matching with the Wacom Color Manager, powered by X-Rite (purchased as an accessory at the Wacom eStore), which sets and fine tunes the colors for a near exact match.

Cintiq 27QHD with new ExpressKey Remote 2

Both versions of the new flagship product feature a 27-inch 2560×1440 seamless edge-to-edge glass screen. The extra wide viewing angle enables designers, artists, game or film developers to create rich, detailed, large-scale work directly on the screen. Users can incorporate different pen nibs to increase the natural feel, including the felt nibs, which provide a realistic pen on paper feel.

The Cintiq 27QHD allows users to speed up their workflow using a combination of pen, multi-touch (Cintiq 27QHD touch), on-screen controls and a Radial Menu. Cintiq’s Pro Pen emulates the feel of a traditional brush or marker. Users can draw, paint, design and edit directly on screen with the Wacom pen and its 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity.

The Cintiq 27QHD Touch is an option for those who want to experience simultaneous pen and touch with the latest touch enabled OS and software. It provides an even more intuitive and natural way to work by closely replicating the experience of working with two hands when using traditional materials such as paints, markers and clay. Multi-touch allows users to directly manipulate their work with fingers by rotating, pinching and moving it around. The ability to manipulate a 3D model — or pan, zoom and rotate an image with one hand while simultaneously sculpting or sketching with the other delivers a completely natural experience — enables artists to stay completely in their creative zone.

Cintiq 27QHD with Stand

Wireless ExpressKey Remote, Ergonomics
Helping improve workflow and creative output, the Cintiq 27QHD comes with the new ExpressKey Remote. This hand-held set of shortcut keys and Touch Ring helps creatives to focus on the creative. It can be placed wherever is most convenient while drawing — either on screen, in the hand or beside the keyboard on the desk. Up to five ExpressKey Remotes can be attached at one time, which when combined with the onscreen controls, gives users dozens of options to customize shortcut keys by task or application.

As with its predecessor, the Cintiq 27 offers ergonomics that benefit graphic designers and illustrators who work long hours and have to be very precise. The integrated stand means the Cintiq can either be laid flat (five degrees to be exact) similar to a canvas or positioned at a 20-degree angle by extending the legs. An optional Ergo stand or third-party VESA arm give users the option to adjust the position even further to whatever angle works best for them, whether sitting or standing.

The Cintiq 27QHD ($2299.99) and Cintiq 27QHD Touch ($2799.99) replace the Cintiq 24HD models and will be available in late January.

Cintiq Companion 2
The Cintiq Companion 2 mobile solution from Wacom works either as a fully fledged Windows 8 tablet with all the creative input capabilities of a Cintiq or, when the need arises, will connect, via Cintiq Connect, to the home or office Mac or PC and function as a primary or secondary Cintiq display.

With 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition, the Cintiq Companion 2’s Pro Pen performs like a traditional brush, pen or marker when used in combination with creative software applications from such companies as Adobe, Autodesk, Pixologic and many more.

Cintiq Companion 2

The pen and high-resolution screen (2560×1440) interact to provide a realistic pen-on-paper feel with limited glare that allows artists and designers to quickly produce detailed and accurate material without ever having to worry about art supplies. The four-position adjustable stand allows users to work comfortably in a variety of environments including studios, client sites, planes, trains and wherever else creativity has a home.

By incorporating the Pro Pen, multi-touch, six ExpressKeys, Rocker Ring, Radial Menu and Cloud Services all onto the Companion 2, pros can work anywhere. It’s the ability to be able to set an ExpressKey to a particular shortcut or use multi-touch to manipulate an image that Wacom says “defines the creative tablet’s intuitiveness and flexibility.” Additionally, a digital workflow allows for immediate feedback from colleagues or clients and this type of collaboration can improve production significantly.

The Cintiq Companion 2 will be available at the Wacom eStore in several configurations this February – Entry (64GB SSD, $1299.99), Value (128GB SSD, $1599.99) and Standard (256GB SSD, $1999.99). The Premium (512GB SSD, $2499.99) version is expected to begin shipping this spring.

Ever wish you had the ability to sketch, draw or paint with the precision your Wacom stylus gives you, but on your iPad? Well wish no more. Wacom has released Intuos Creative Stylus 2, which comes with a fine solid tip for increased visibility and intricate detail all for the iPad. An on-the-go solution for creative professionals, it now also offers USB charging options, a flared front to support a variety of holding styles and side-switch for ease of use. This combination of quality design and superior features provides the perfect tool for artists and designers to work anytime and anywhere.

The Intuos Creative Stylus 2 ($79.95), which will be available in October, offers 2,048 pressure-sensitivity levels, and the user experience is enhanced thanks to Bluetooth 4.0 that seamlessly connects the stylus to iPads and Wacom’s Cloud services. Available soon, the two new cloud-based services offer clipboard functionality (DropZone) that allow for the exchange of files between different devices and a storage service for individual pen, tablet and display settings (ControlRoom).

The Intuos Creative Stylus 2 is made using brushed aluminum and a soft touch silicone grip. Available in black and grey, this design tool also offers an ergonomic shape. A protective carry case holds the stylus, USB charging cable and replacement nibs and make the stylus the ultimate pocket sized companion for today’s on-the-go designer.

Designed for the iPad 3, iPad 4, mini and Air, the Intuos Creative Stylus 2 is compatible with the top five creative apps, including Wacom’s Bamboo Paper, SketchBook Pro for iPad (by Autodesk), ArtRage (by Ambient Design), ProCreate (by Savage Interactive) and more. While using the stylus with compatible apps, it becomes highly responsive to light strokes while rejecting unintentional touches made whilst resting palms on the iPad’s screen. When connecting the stylus to Bamboo Paper, users will have free access to the ‘Creative Pack’ including all brushes and writing tools as well as all artists type notebooks with various canvases and papers particularly for drawing and painting.

Digital-Tutors, an online training center that offers training and tutorial library for CG, 3D, animation and VFX, offers over 1,100 full-length courses on over 50 software packages to beginners and experienced artists looking to grow their toolbox.

“We know artists can be skeptical of learning resources, especially when a financial or time commitment is required,” said Justin Marshall, lead modeling tutor at Digital-Tutors (www.digitaltutors.com). “Over the last 12 years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to not only proving why our content deserves both; but also to the idea that if we do our job, then a whole community of great artists can either begin to or continue to do their job at the highest levels of film, game, and ad industries.” Continue reading →